Marijuana (also known as weed, pot, Mary Jane, and other such names) is being discussed in the United States over whether or not it should be labeled as ‘illegal’. A bill is being passed to legalize marijuana for medicinal use, and some of the 50 states are taking it even further into legalizing it for personal consumption. As an American citizen who would be graduating high school and attending college in the United States, two of the most common places for drug abuse, this bill would affect my future heavily. I am against the passing of this bill, in the hopes that if it is not passed I will have a better experience in my late high school and college years, and that the United States as a whole will have less problems to deal with.

Cannabis sativa, the scientific name for marijuana, is a green-gray plant grown in the northwestern United States, as well as other parts of the world such as Mexico, Canada, and Africa. It is considered an illegal drug in most of the U.S., and causes ill effects on the mind and body. Tetrahydrocannabinol, abbreviated as THC, is the part of marijuana that causes the side effects of smoking marijuana. When smoked, usually in the form of a cigarette or cigar, THC enters the brain, where it creates a euphoric sensation, commonly called a ‘high’. This euphoric sensation is also the sensation created by things that cause pleasure in the mind, such as chocolate. This THC causes a much more violent form of the normal euphoric sensation. It causes other effects such as heightened sensory perception (e.g. louder noises, brighter colors), laughter, poor perception of time, and increased appetite. Long-term effects of marijuana use include short-term memory loss, impaired vision/hearing, poor coordination and balance, increased risk of heart attack and bronchitis, and addiction.

The bill being passed in the U.S. would allow for marijuana to be sold in pharmacies and be used for medicinal use. Some state governments are still discussing whether or not to pass a bill that would also legalize marijuana for personal use. However, United States President Barack Obama states that he and his board of representatives will not pass this bill. If the president of the country says something should be done to not pass the bill, wouldn’t it make sense to follow what he says, as long as it is a sensible decision? Besides, what sense does this bill make? According to Casa Palmera Rehabilitation Center, in 2010 nearly 11% of 8th graders, 24% of 10th graders, and 32% of 12th graders had tried marijuana at least once. If marijuana is already illegal for people under 18 years old, what affect will this bill have on the teenage population that can already get their hands on this drug? This bill would simply put the drug into pharmacies, where it is even easier for people to access than from a drug smuggler or a marijuana farm.

If this bill is passed, there will be millions of people in the United States smoking marijuana as much as they want. To maintain the United States’ rank as the world’s leading superpower, we can’t have a country run by drug junkies and potheads. Smoking marijuana causes people to be less capable of thinking than normal. 42% of American adults already use it or have used it before, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. If marijuana is legalized, that number will grow dramatically.

The United States already has plenty of problems on its hands: terrorism, taxes, gas prices, North Korea, and more. The last thing this country needs is a bunch of marijuana-smokers causing all sorts of problems within the U.S. If we stop the passing of this marijuana legalization bill, that’s just one less problem the United States of America has to deal with.